Presidency tackles Atiku on claim Buhari was banned in U.S

THE Presidency has denied a statement attributed to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar that suggested that President Muhammadu Buhari was banned from entering the United States of America at some point because of religious considerations.

According to a statement issued by the Special Adviser to the president on media and publicity, Femi Adesina, in Abuja on Saturday, the former All Progressive Congress (APC) chieftain made the claim in an interview.

It quoted Atiku as saying that “for about 15 years, Buhari could not enter America on account of religious considerations.”

The statement added: “This fictive concoction being passed off as truth is mind boggling, coming from a former Number Two man of Nigeria, who should know the truth.

“At no time was President Buhari, as a private person, ever forbidden from entering any country in the world. Rather, the rest of the world has always held Muhammadu Buhari as a man of sterling qualities, strong on integrity, transparency and accountability.

“The same testimony is still borne of the Nigerian President by many world leaders today.
It is curious that former VP Abubakar had been asked why he had not visited America for over a decade, something that had been a stubborn fact dogging his footsteps. Instead of answering directly, he begged the question, saying Buhari also had been disallowed from entering the same country for 15 years, before becoming President.
“We hereby make it resoundingly clear that what the former Vice President said only exists in the realm of his imagination. If he has issues to settle with American authorities, he should do so, rather than clutch at a straw.”